COMPENSATION

Pay Periods

The standard workweek for the Company will begin at 12:01 a.m. Monday and end at midnight the following Sunday.

The designated pay period for all employees is weekly. Paychecks are distributed each Friday. Except as otherwise provided, if any date of paycheck distribution falls on a Saturday, Sunday or holiday, employees will be paid on the preceding scheduled workday.

Pay Adjustments/Promotions/Demotions

The Company is most interested in providing maximum opportunity for employee advancement within the Company, if advancement opportunities are available. Accordingly, present employees of the Company may be considered for promotions and may be preferred for promotion before any new employees are hired to fill vacancies that may arise. Of course, the Company retains sole discretion to determine the factors to be applied in any promotion decision, and the relative weight of the factors.

All pay increases are based upon merit and market factors. There may not be an automatic annual cost of living or salary adjustment to reflect current economic conditions.

Employees pay also may be adjusted downward. Salary decreases may take place when there is: job restructuring, job duty changes, job transfers or adverse business economic conditions.

Demotion is a reduction in responsibility, usually accompanied by a reduction in salary. If and when a demotion occurs, employees may maintain their seniority with the Company.

Overtime

The Company complies with all applicable federal and state laws with regard to payment of overtime work.

Non-exempt employees are paid overtime at the rate of one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for all hours worked over forty (40) in a workweek.

Employees are required to work overtime when assigned. Any overtime worked must be authorized by a supervisor or manager, in advance. Working unauthorized overtime or the refusal or unavailability to work overtime is not acceptable work performance, and is subject to discipline, including but not limited to termination.

Exempt Employee Payroll Deductions

The Company complies with the salary basis requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and does not make improper deductions from the salaries of exempt employees. Exempt employees are those employed in a bona fide executive, administrative or professional capacity and who are exempt from the FLSA’s overtime pay requirements.

What Deductions Are Permitted?

There are certain circumstances where deductions from the salaries of exempt employees are permissible. Such circumstances include:

• When an exempt employee is absent from work for one or more full days for personal reasons other than sickness or disability;
• When an exempt employee is absent for one or more full days due to sickness or disability if the deduction is made in accordance with a bona fide plan, policy or practice of providing compensation for salary lost due to illness;
• To offset amounts received as witness or jury fees, or for military pay;
• For unpaid disciplinary suspensions of one or more full days imposed in good faith for workplace conduct rule infractions

Also, the Company is not required to pay the full salary in the initial or terminal week of employment; for weeks in which an exempt employee takes unpaid leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act or for penalties imposed in good faith for infraction of safety rules of major significance. In these circumstances, either partial day or full day deductions may be made.

What to Do if an Improper Deduction Occurs

If you are an exempt employee and believe that an improper deduction has been made to your salary, you should immediately report this information to your direct supervisor, or to the person responsible for payroll processing.

Reports of improper deductions will be promptly investigated. If it is determined that an improper deduction has occurred, you will be promptly reimbursed for any improper deduction made.

Performance Evaluation

Employees will generally receive an appraisal of their job performance upon the completion of one year of employment and annually thereafter. This evaluation may be either written or oral. Such evaluation may not occur exactly on the anniversary date, but thereabout, at the discretion of the supervisor or manager.

If in this appraisal employees are given an evaluation sheet or other written document, employees will be required to sign it. An employee’s signature does not necessarily indicate that the employee agrees with all the comments, but merely that the employee has been given the opportunity to examine the evaluation and fully discuss the contents of it with their supervisor or manager. The completed and signed evaluation form will be placed in the employee’s personnel file and the employee will receive a copy of the performance evaluation.

Because pay increases are based on merit, the performance evaluation is an important element in the merit review. In addition to the formal annual review, informal counseling sessions may be conducted from time to time.

Work Assignments

In addition to specific duties that may go along with an individual’s job responsibilities, each job also includes "and other assigned duties." From time to time, employees may be required to perform duties or tasks of a fellow employee who is absent or for a position that is temporarily vacant. Employees will be compensated at their regular rate of pay while performing other assigned duties on a temporary basis.